New ‘Wikileaks’ soldier charges

The US Army has charged a soldier held in connection with the leak of US government documents published by the Wikileaks website with 22 extra counts.

The new charges against Private First Class Bradley Manning include aiding the enemy, a capital offence, but prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty.

The intelligence analyst is being held at a military jail in Virginia.

He is suspected of leaking video and more than 150,000 diplomatic documents.

Pte Manning, who joined the US military in 2007, was initially charged in May with 12 counts of illegally downloading and sharing a secret video of a US military operation and secret military and diplomatic documents and cables.

The new charges accuse the soldier of using unauthorised software on government computers to download classified information and to make intelligence available to “the enemy”.

Under the US Uniform Code of Military Justice, the offence is punishable by death.

Pte Manning’s lawyer David Coombs said the soldier’s defence team had been preparing for the possibility of additional charges over the past few weeks.

Pte Manning is being held in solitary confinement in a high-security military prison at Quantico marine base, Virginia.

Mr Coombs has said he expects a hearing to determine whether the military has enough evidence to try the soldier to be held in May or June.